Kink On Tap/Audio production
This page describes the audio production process that is used to produce Kink On Tap audio podcast episodes. Initial recording Kink On Tap produces anywhere from 1-and-a-half to 2-and-a-half hours of raw recorded audio each week. The final podcast ends up being about 60 to 90 minutes of recorded, minimally edited audio. The majority of the edits are cuts from the beginning (before the show started) and the end (after the show ends). See the Production Setup page to learn more about how Kink On Tap recordings are captured. Editing episodes Kink On Tap episodes are edited only for clarity. This means that, in situations where it improves the listener's experience, long pauses, confusing stutters, superfluous hems and haws, and technical issues are cut from the final distribution audio files. Additionally, background noise is reduced to the best of our ability, as is any electronic or other feedback that reduces the quality of the vocal track. The content of the show itself is never altered. A full, unedited recording is always accessible via the Kink On Tap UStream archive. Additionally, the end of each episode has 1 to 2 minutes of much more edited audio (that we call "banter") appended to the end of the show, akin to a "blooper reel." Also included are audio billboard ads asking for donations at the start of each episode, as well as a show opening that says the number and title of the episode. This gets mixed in with some pre-recorded fade-in and fade-out music. Post-production process The Kink On Tap audio production process currently looks like this: # The Kink On Tap episode is recorded, as described in Production setup. # Maymay listens to the initial recording and goes through it in WireTap Studio, editing out any technical trouble, long pauses, etc, as described in Editing episodes. This is the first-pass edit. # Maymay imports this first-pass edited audio into GarageBand, adds the fade-in and fade-out music, and cuts together the "banter" segments. # Maymay goes through the GarageBand project and creates chapter markers at the start of most major topics at the point they came up during the conversation. This is the second-pass edit. #* Each chapter in the M4A audio is given a title and optionally a link with link text. #* The first and last chapter of each episode is titled "Kink On Tap ###", where ### is the number of the episode, and links to the appropriate show notes page. #* Intermediate chapters, if they reference a topic link discussed on the show, are given the details of the link: the URL is provided, the URL Title is the title of the target of the link, and the Chapter Title is a succinct version of the URL Title (typically the same as the URL Title without the site name). # Maymay exports the audio file from GarageBand, then imports it into iTunes to add detailed ID3 tags: #* Year is set to the recorded year. #* Track number is set to the episode number. # Maymay copies iTunes' copy of the file onto the production distribution server at KinkOnTap.com. Audio formats Kink On Tap produces audio in AAC-encoded M4A files with chapter markers. Once the final distribution M4A file is posted, the community graciously creates an MP3 and Ogg Vorbis version of the show on their own.